It’s spooky season again. I’ll be keeping this post brief. I’m reading and writing as always. I’ve got a few new pieces out in the world:
Let’s start with the most recent one. My Halloween story ‘Wolves at the Door’ was published by the good folks over at Dread Imaginings. I’m proud of this story. I wrote it (and two others) during my first two-week quarantine. This is the last story to see publication from that group and that makes me feel a little bit weird.
This story is an attempt to create a surreal horror piece. I was really inspired by Jeffrey Ford at the time of writing, and I think it shows.
The other story that has come out since I last posted was ‘Stories for the Coldest Nights’. This is one of the other quarantine stories. It won the Pandora Prize at Space City Underground. This is my first award for writing, and it came out in August.
Enjoy some Halloween sweets and your favorite paperback. The lonesome October will be gone before you know it.
The year is over. I’d like to say that I’ll miss 2020, but I’m not a very good liar. This year was a wash in so many ways. But I’ve touched on how bad everything is a few times here on my blog, so I wanted to just say that and move on.
This is my annual wrap-up post, so I’ve come with plenty of things to share. Let’s talk fiction:
Fiction
Pank Magazine Header.
It was a reprint heavy year for me, but I did have a few original pieces go out. The first was ‘The Mouth that Opens’, which was featured on the Nocturnal Transmissions podcast. It’s no secret how much I love this story, and I think the Transmissions team did an incredible job.
The next story was another audio reprint, this time in the newly launched ‘The Night’s End Podcast’. ‘They Come Crawling’ is a Lovecraftian piece that I originally published in a Miskatonic themed anthology. If you want some classic Lovecraftian, it’s the story to read.
’The Eldritch Film Club’ was published at Pank Magazine for their Halloween month. After that, I put up a story for National Cake Day over at my Curious Fictions page. These are both free reads, so you can check them out whenever.
The last story was published last week. ‘To Pull A Circle Straight’ was published in Exeter Publishing’s ‘From the Soil: A Hometown Anthology’. It features a fictional version of my hometown. Come for the pizza, stay for the vengeance.
Non-Fiction
In February, I launched a gaming focused website called Game Loot. It’s hosted over at Medium. I’ve been wanting to write about video games for quite some time, and Medium allowed me to explore and experience this in a very cool way. I wrote over 40 articles, including a few that I am very proud of. I’ve developed an audience, and I’m proud of the work.
A website I used to write for went under, leaving a good number of my reviews unavailable. I’ve republished them here, with new links in my Bibliography section. I reviewed tons of great horror books, so if you are looking for a recommendation, I’d suggest going there.
Everything Else
I tried to fill my time in 2020. I played tons of video games, watched lots of movies, and hit my reading challenge goal over at Goodreads. That’s always a cause for celebration!
I was also interviewed over at Horror Talk Radio, where I talked about publishing and the industry as a whole.
I hope that the new year is better. I just got a huge acceptance, and I can’t wait to share that with everyone. I’ll also be working on putting a short story collection to shop around, but that may be a future goal.
It’s nearly Halloween, and the horrors of 2020 may never end. We’ll be spending everyone’s favorite pumpkin-centric holiday from within the warm comforts of our living rooms. This—of course—leads to plenty of indoor activities. The CDC says that this is the best way to avoid getting sick, and only idiots don’t listen to the CDC.
October was a busy month for me. My work is still hectic, but I’ve found time to celebrate all things horror in the dwindling twilight hours. Of all the movies I watched here in October, I think that my personal favorite is the unbelievably terrifying Ghostwatch. I bought a DVD copy off of Amazon UK, and it may creep it’s way into my all time favorite horror flicks. Watch Ghostwatch. You won’t be sorry.
Books! I just finished the absolutely sinister Dark Tales, written by the legendary Shirley Jackson. I also enjoyed the lyrical horror of Richard Gavin’s Grostesquerie and Jonathan Raab’s layered blitzkrieg The Crypt of Blood: A Halloween TV Special. I’m currently reading The Turn of the Screw with my wife (The Haunting of Bly Manor was SOOO GOOD) and the YA slasher Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis. I’m on track to smash my reading goal. Easy.
I’ve been playing some horror games on Itch.io in the evening (Faith, ANATOMY, Approaches) and I also finally drove the nail into the Dishonored series by finishing Dishonored: Death of the Outsider.
I’ve also been pumping out horror stories and sending them out. I have 11 stories out on submission, and I got an acceptance a few days ago! This is the time of year to write horror, and I will be channeling all that energy into my keyboard until October’s final witching hour ends.
Happy (almost) Halloween! Stay safe, wear a mask, and please vote.
Logan Noble, Author 